Spelt Sprouted Wheat Date Walnut

This will necessarily be brief, but I wanted to post yesterday's loaf, Spelt Sprouted Wheat Date Walnut. I've been in the office more than home lately, so this one got only the attention I could provide when I could provide it, but turned out well despite the inattention. Ingredients included:

Sprouted wheat grains - about 2/3 c.

250 g Whole Spelt

350 g BF

60 g Wheat Germ

500 g Water

150 g Starter (@100%)

12 g Salt

2 Tbsp Walnut Oil

Walnut pieces, toasted - 2 handfuls

Dates, chopped - 2 handfuls

The procedure was abbreviated - soaked the wheat grains and allowed them to sprout for 24 hours (not quite long enough for this particular wheat, an organic I got through my CSA). Autolysed the flours, wheat germ and water for a couple of hours, added the salt and starter and left it at cool room temp overnight. Next morning, I did about 4-5 stretch and folds at irregular intervals over about 4 hours, incorporating the grains, oil, nuts and dates. Preshaped, then shaped and into a basket for a final rise of 2 hours. Turned out onto parchment, slashed and baked on a stone at 450 F under my cloche for 15 minutes, then about 25 minutes more at 425 F and 5 minutes with the oven off and the door open to crisp the crust.

The house smelled rich with toasted walnuts - it was so hard to leave it to cool, but I did get a piece later once it was sliced and ready to freeze. The walnut comes through, the whole grain flavors, too and a sweet surprise when you bite into a date. This one was worthy of making again and demonstrates that even when neglected, SD can make good bread that is good for us.

Happy Week and Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Cathy